Earned, Not Given

I never asked
for a shortcut.
I asked
for a chance.

They gave me doubt.
I took it
as fuel.

I didn’t beg.
I built.
While they slept,
I worked.
While they doubted,
I believed.

Not in them.
In me.

The pain?
Real.
The tears?
Hidden.
The nights?
Long.
But I kept going.

Because I knew
I was born
for more
than silence.
More
than shadows.

I was made
to break walls.
To walk alone.
To fight
without a crowd.

They ask now,
“How did you do it?”
I smile.
Because I know
they’ll never understand.

It wasn’t luck.
It was war.
And I survived.

So no,
don’t hand me anything.
I’d rather
earn it.

Let me prove
again and again
that I was never
meant to be
average.